


The Slap

by Jollytr



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Life before Smaug, OFC - Freeform, Thorin & Original Female Character, Young Thorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 04:56:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1253671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jollytr/pseuds/Jollytr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin knew better.  He KNEW.   Surely he was possessed when he kissed her.  He did it. He kissed a girl.  It was forbidden and he did it anyway.  What in the world would come of him - of her?</p><p>Thorin Oakenshield fan fiction, edited February 11, 2015</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Slap

**Author's Note:**

> This world belongs to Professor Tolkein - setting, characters, their fates. It's all his but for Afifa and the plot of this little tangent. No disrespect intended to the Professor or The Hobbit.
> 
> edited February 2015

A/NPrompt from Anonymous who asked: can you write a fanfic about what if Thorin did the first move (as in kissing etc) and the reader slapped him or said no or pushed him away because its forbidden in her culture to actually touch a man (so an arab reader like me can imagine)?

..ooOOoo..

Life in Erebor was rich in every way. Family, friends, food, safety, singing, craft, gems, gold, trade with Dale, and more Dwarflings than his Grandfather, King Thror, could remember seeing or hearing of. It was a time of plenty and peace which Thorin took for granted, confident that when his time came to be King Under the Mountain, the line of Durin would continue to enjoy a kingdom of riches and plenty.

There were many who curried favour with the royal family, wanting to advance their station in any way possible. It disgusted him that many mothers pushed their daughters in his path.  They gave him their courting stones, trying to organize a royal engagement as if it were a business deal. Thorin would probably not marry for several decades but when he did it would NOT be a business deal. He would marry for love and that was final.

When was he going to admit that he didn’t just ‘happen’ to drop something by the door? By _that door_? He could hear her laughing with her friends and he could imagine her beautiful smile. If he closed his eyes he could see hers crinkle at the edges and sparkle with her laughter.

It had been months of skulking around the halls under the mountain and ‘accidentally’ finding himself where she was. Each and every time he felt frissons of excitement spark through him. Watching her work, eavesdropping on her happy conversations with her friends, seeing her kindness to the wee dwarflings, appreciating her inspired talent with gems – oh he was smitten and he just had to come out and admit it.

All he had to do was to admit that he was completely, truly, madly, deeply in love with Afifa. If he could just do it then King Thror, the old romantic, would ensure their future happiness was sealed. But he wouldn’t admit that, at 24 years of age, he had met the Dwarrow-dam he would woo and commit himself to for the next 250+ years. So, he would skulk about watching and listening to her, denying any attachment if anyone asked and, most importantly, deluding himself.

Thorin ducked behind the door as Afifa’s friends departed from the solarium, leaving her alone. Thorin was intoxicated by the excitement of finding himself in a position he’d never been in before: alone with a beautiful girl who made his heart beat a frantic tattoo. Despite that it was forbidden for them to be unchaperoned, he casually wandered into the solarium pretending not to notice her. Strolling over to the fountain he looked up and acted surprised to see her there.

“Nice day in the mountain.” His voice came out a full octave higher than usual and he groaned at his lame attempt to make conversation. When he looked at her he worried his bumbling was worse than he thought, she did not look as if she wanted to talk to him at all.

In the last few years they had made eye contact and she’d smiled at him from across the room on many occasions. She always turned back to her friends but he was sure he saw her eyes twinkle when she smiled at him. It was so brief, maybe he was mistaken. Maybe he was trailing after a girl who didn’t like him at all. Granted, they hadn’t spoken other than formal greetings at royal events but he thought she was interested too. His heart sank, maybe he was curious about someone who thought him a dull Dwarf.

“I … ah … wondered … um … if you might … well … if your family might like to join mine for dinner tomorrow?” He stammered out in a brilliant flash of inspired conversation. Yes! He thought of something to say AND arranged to see her again all in one fell swoop.

She smiled tightly as her eyes darted towards the door. “That would be fine. We will be honoured, Thorin, Son of Thrain. Khagun will be pleased to dine with your mother again.” She took a deep breath and smiled brightly, her beautiful eyes twinkling as he so admired. She was lovely and he felt light headed just standing near her.

Thorin would never be able to tell what possessed him. It was startling, forbidden and completely out of character, but he did it anyway. Once it started gushing out of him, he couldn’t stop.

Stepping towards her, he straightened his spine and began speaking rapidly, “Afifa I think you are the best Dwarf I have ever known and you are beautiful and skilled and I get so excited whenever I am near you and –“

He stood inches away from her, able to smell her delicate perfume. And that’s when he lost the last of what little remaining common sense he had. There was no other way to explain it. He reached out and pulled her into his arms and clumsily kissed her lips which had formed a startled little O.

In the millisecond before the kiss she took in all of him and silently rejoiced at the confirmation that so many things she’d assumed about him were true. Afifa felt the strength coiled in the young Dwarf prince’s strong body. He was taller than she thought and broader; his raven hair was richer and more lustrous up close than from the distance she normally kept. His scent was like nothing she’d ever experienced and it was intoxicating. She gazed into his eyes, seeing his awe of her reflected in their depths. She wondered where her stone was but ... _oh dear_ , she also saw his unguarded passion and felt his soft lips brush against hers. The latter of which was an instantaneous jolt back to reality.

The slap echoed throughout the solarium. Thorin’s eyes flew open wide as his brows shot up into his hairline. His hand cradled his crimson cheek and his mouth gaped. The look of horror and anger on her face made his own flame much worse than the slap ever could have done. “Afifa I am so sorry – “   Shame washed over him as the reality of his dishonour sank in.  She'd never have him now ...

“DO NOT speak to me!” She ran from the room in tears. It was bad enough that he entered the solarium when she was alone, it was unconscionable that he would allow his hand to touch any part of her, but it was the worst possible thing in the world for him to have kissed her. _Oh, what a nightmare._ He had shown himself to be without honour - how could she ever give him her courting stone now?

Male and Female Dwarves were never to be left alone unchaperoned, and they were forbidden to touch each other outside of marriage. He had broken all of those rules in less than ten seconds. It didn’t matter that they been fascinated with each other for years. It didn’t matter that she’d been secretly pleased to find him turning up at the most unexpected times and places. It didn’t matter that she’d held the tiniest dream of presenting him with a carven stone, permitting him to court her. He destroyed everything in the space of seconds.

Thorin was certain his heart had sunk through his stomach and was about to fall right out of his body. What could ever lead him to do such a forbidden thing? If he ever held out hope that she might return his interest, it was certainly dashed on the rocks after that wretched display.  He tarnished his honour as a Dwarf and as a Durin, she would never permit such a person to court her after his terrible display.

He moped all the way back to his Grandfather’s quarters and poked around, stalling while he worked up the courage to tell King Thror what had happened and accept his punishment. He fidgeted, examining every artefact on the shelves and spoke in clipped monotone sentences when Thror spoke to him.

“Son of my son, come here.” He looked sternly at Thorin, suspecting the lad had come to confess some silly crime. “Now, I don’t have all day. Tell me what you came to say and be done with it.”

Thorin shoulder's slumped and he morosely described entering the solarium, his invitation to Afifa and her family and his subsequent folly. He was disgusted with himself, humiliated and worried, unable to look his Grandfather in the eye.

“Hmmm. I see. This is very serious indeed.” He sat stroking his beard for a few minutes, barely suppressing a smirk at his Grandson’s discomfiture. He watched Thorin closely and was certain he knew what the boy had not said - that he had met his One Love.  What Thror also knew, which Thorin did not, was that Thror had often observed the lovely Afifa and Thorin and secretly hoped for their union for quite some time.  

Thror sighed dramatically and chewed on the edge of his moustaches.  True, Thorin had behaved badly, but he was in love and what Dwarf or Dwarrow-Dam had not done silly things when they were in love?  He harkened back to that day under the mighty oak tree when he accidentally-on-purpose stumbled upon the most beautiful Dwarrow-Dam who would later become his Queen.  He was no suave, sophisticated Dwarf and he still marvelled that she permitted him to court her. 

“Well, there’s only one corridor to take. We must honour your dinner invitation and I will speak to her mother to plead your case.  Perhaps she will permit your young friend to forgive you.  If you are lucky, and prove yourself worthy, Afifa may even allow you to marry her. Quite honestly Thorin, anything else would be scandalous, casting a poor light on the Line of Durin and destroying your reputation forever. Hopefully she will take pity on you, for no other Dwarrow-dam would have you now.”   Thror's eyes twinkled and he hid his smile from his grandson.   _Ahhh, to be young and foolish again._  

Thorin’s eyes shot up to his Grandfather as fast as his chin dropped. Hope coursed through his veins for the first time since he created the fiasco. Doom may not be his constant companion after all. Did Grandfather really say there might be a marriage? And when did marriage all of a sudden sound like the greatest and best dream he’d ever had?

“Grandfather, please don’t tease me. This is serious.” Thorin groaned, closely examining his Grandfather through narrowed eyes.

Thror stood and clasped his arms behind his back, puffing out his chest. “Thorin I would never jest about the honour of the Line of Durin, or of marriage. You may consider yourself her servant as of the moment you tried to kiss Afifa. Now it is all up to the grown ups to work out the details. I trust you know what will be expected of you at dinner tomorrow? Do you have the clasps and beads ready to give her?”

Thorin blushed and nodded. He’d been crafting hair clips and decorative beads with his symbol for months, trying to perfect them so that he could be proud of them when, if, he ever found someone to give them to. Certainly not because he'd already found her, no most definitely not because of that. It was a simple matter of convenience, naturally.

“Good, good. Now leave me and go groom your sorry excuse for a beard. You must look as handsome as a lad your age possibly can. Be off.” Thror thumped him on the back and ushered the shocked Prince out the door.

As Thorin stumbled down the halls towards his rooms, he broke into the biggest smile in all of Erebor. Before she slapped him, she kissed him back. _She kissed him back!_  If she would have him, he would be Afifa's husband and she would be his wife!


End file.
